WITH PORTRAITS, BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES, AND
SPECIMENS OF THEIR WRITINGS.

BY JOHN S. HART, LL.D.

Embellished with Elegant Illustrations.

PHILADELPHIA:

PUBLISHED BY E. H. BUTLER & CO.

1852.

Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1851, by

E. H. BUTLER & CO.,

in the Clerk’s office of the District Court of the United States, in and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

PREFACE.

THE unwonted favour extended to “Read’s Female Poets of America,” led to the belief that a work on the Female Prose Writers, constructed on a similar plan, would be not unacceptable to the public.

In the preparation of the biographies, much difficulty has been experienced. Few things are more intangible and elusive, than the biography of persons still living, and yet, in the case of those who have pleased us by their writings, few things are more interesting. It seems to be an instinctive desire of the human heart, on becoming acquainted with any work of genius, to know something of its author. Nor is this mere idle curiosity. It is a part of that homage, which every mind rightly constituted, spontaneously offers to whatever is great or good. This feeling of personal interest in an author who has moved us, is greatly increased where, as in the case of most female writers, the subjects of which they write, are chiefly of an emotional nature, carrying with them on every page the unmistakeable impress of personal sympathy, if not experience. Women, far more than men, write from the heart. Their own likes and dislikes, their feelings, opinions, tastes, and sympathies are so mixed up with those of their subject, that the interest of the reader is often enlisted quite as much for the writer, as for the hero, of the tale.

Knowing, therefore, how general is this desire to become acquainted with the personal history of authors, I have taken special pains, in preparing a work on the Female Prose Writers of the country, to make the biographical sketches as full and minute as circumstances would justify, or the writers themselves would allow. The work contains two charming pieces of autobiography, now appearing for the first time, from two long-established favourites with the public, Miss Leslie and Mrs. Gilman. In almost all cases the information has been obtained directly by correspondence with the authors, or their friends. Where this has failed, recourse has been had to the best printed authorities. The work, it is believed, will be found to contain an unusual amount of authentic information, and on subjects where authentic information is equally desirable and difficult to obtain.

The task of making selections has not been easy. I have studied, as far as possible, to select passages characteristic of the different styles of each writer, and at the same time to present the reader with an agreeable variety.

Those who have not been led professionally, or otherwise, to examine the subject particularly, will probably be surprised at the evidences of the rapid growth of literature among American women, during the present generation. When Hannah Adams first published her “View of all Religions,” so rare was the example of a woman who could write a book, that she was looked upon as one of the wonders of the Western world. Learned men of Europe sought her aquaintance and entered into correspondence with her. Yet now, less than twenty years since the death of Hannah Adams, a ponderous volume of nearly five hundred pages is hardly sufficient to enrol the names, and give a few brief extracts from each of our female writers, who have already adorned the annals of literature by their prose writings, to say nothing of the numerous and not less distinguished sisterhood, who have limited themselves to poetry.

A word in regard to the portraits. These have been made, wherever it was practicable, from original paintings or drawings, recently executed, so as to give a likeness of the author as she is now. That of Margaret Fuller is from a portrait by Hicks, copied from an original painted by himself in Rome, during her residence in that city, and considered by her friends, there and here, and excellent likeness. the portrait of Mrs. Hentz is from a miniature, painted last year by her husband, who is an artist. Mrs. Kirkland’s is from a crayon drawing by Martin, and Mrs. Neal’s from a crayon drawing by Furness, both made expressly for the work. The others are, with one exception, from recent likeness, redrawn by Croome. All of these have been engraved in London, in the light and graceful style most generally approved for heads. The illuminated frontispiece and title-page were designed by Mr. Devereux, who has done so much, by his skill, to make the productions of literature at the same time specimens of art.